Sipes has a lifelong professional commitment to the criminal justice system, starting as a police officer and working his way through top positions within the justice system. He retired in June of 2016 as the Senior Public Affairs Specialist and Social Media Manager for a federal criminal justice agency.

He advised presidential and gubernatorial campaigns.

Sipes graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a Certificate of Advanced Study in Liberal Arts. He received a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice/Criminology from the University of Baltimore.

Sipes was a successful media affairs and social media manager with a federal criminal justice agency with 35 years of national and state government experience; he accumulated fifteen awards (2014-2016) including best government customer service, best use of technology, best teamwork, top awards for podcasting and audio, and multiple first place awards for television hosting and production. Sipes has over 50 national and regional awards for his media relations work. His personal website is http://leonardsipes.com.

He is the author of “Success With the Media: Everything You Need To Survive Reporters and Your Organization,” available at Amazon at https://amzn.com/151948965X.

A forthcoming book, “Emergency Media in the Digital Age,” is in review.

Sipes managed the most popular audio and video podcasting and social media site in the US for select crime and justice issues; he created the first state and federal podcasting series and social media sites.

Sipes was the primary spokesperson for crime prevention for the federal government for 10 years as the Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the National Criminal Justice Reference Service and the Director of Information Services for the National Crime Prevention Council (both funded by the US Department of Justice).

He co-managed the most successful public service ad campaign in the nation (McGruff the Crime Dog-Take a Bite Out of Crime).

He was a Security Planner for the United States Senate, Sergeant at Arms. He started a plan to secure every Senate office beyond Washington, D.C.

He was the longest lasting Director of Public Information for the State of Maryland (Maryland Department of Public Safety); he was a former Associate Professor for criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland-University College.

Sipes effectively managed thousands of media contacts; appeared on every national television and radio network multiple times; he was quoted by every national newspaper and wire service.

He created successful state media campaigns; produced a unique and emulated style of proactive public relations; wrote and managed hundreds of publications; went from 20 to 50 percent approval in agency public opinion; he has vast experience in big-complicated agencies.

Thousands of “friends/followers” on Twitter, Facebook and additional sites. On over 135 Twitter lists. Highly ranked site for crime and related terms. Featured by major US and foreign universities. Featured by major news sites.

This site receives between 1.5 to 2 million pageviews a year excluding robot searches.

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This ongoing, occasional series features interviews with a variety of influential leaders who discuss how they became involved in criminal justice reform, how their views have evolved—sometimes in unexpected ways—and what’s needed to sustain progress.

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